Investigating the Prioritization of Knowledge Management Dimensions and their Relationship to Wheat Supply Chain Performance in the Government-run Trading Corporation of Iran

Knowledge management and its implementation in the supply chain can be considered as an effective factor to increase supply chain efficiency. According to Dalker integrated knowledge management cycle, knowledge management in the wheat supply chain includes the creation, application, and transfer of knowledge in the stages of purchasing, transporting, storing, and trading wheat. In modern times, economics is moving towards being knowledge-based. The issue of storage and inventory has a special prominence, and its management is one of the pillars of supply chain management. Organizations have to revise the structure of their decisions in order to adapt to their changing and competitive environment. To this end, they must show more flexibility in the face of changes in the environment. The more this level of agility, flexibility, and optimal performance speed relies on knowledge, the more effective the result will be with more stable overall and partial productivity. Knowledge management provides new opportunities to create and maintain more value for supply chains based on key business competencies. In fact, knowledge management systems are the lifeblood of supply chains. By adapting the information contained in formal and informal knowledge management systems, companies reduce the time cycle of goods, services and costs and deliver more value to both their domestic and foreign customers, thereby gaining a competitive advantage in the market. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship and prioritization of knowledge management dimensions in the supply chain efficiency of wheat in Iran State Trading Company.

This research is of a developmental and applied type conducted by a descriptive survey method. The statistical population of the research included 105 managers, secretaries, and heads of companies at the provincial level, all of whom were selected for the research. Of these, 86 completed the research questionnaires. In this study, the reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha. The alpha value for all the parts of the questionnaire was above 0.7 and 0.94 for the whole questionnaire. The hypotheses were tested by structural equation modeling (SEM) through the LISREL software, and the SPSS22 software was used to analyze the data.

According to the structural model of the research, the value of t between the two variables of knowledge creation and supply chain was equal to 2.95 (the value of t-statistic was more than 1.96), and the intensity of the relationship was 0.61. Therefore, there was a positive and significant relationship between knowledge creation and the supply chain. Also, between the two variables of knowledge application and supply chain, the value of t was equal to 4.6, and the intensity of the relationship was 0.58. Therefore, there was a positive and significant relationship between knowledge application and the supply chain. Between the two variables of knowledge transfer and supply chain, the value of t was equal to 8.62, and the intensity of the relationship was 0.49. So, there was a positive and significant relationship between knowledge transfer and supply chain. The ranking was based on two tests of mean and Friedman, according to which the application of knowledge, with an average of 4.62, had the highest and knowledge transfer, with an average of 4.44, had the least impact on the efficiency of the wheat supply chain.

Knowledge management in the wheat supply chain as a special issue is of vital importance for the field of wheat supply. With knowledge management and planning, we can identify the factors related to wheat supply policies, including duration of strategic reserves for the whole country, duration of strategic reserves for the demand of each region, and duration of strategic reserves for the supply of each region. The use of knowledge management factors in the wheat supply chain leads to superior and more professional goals in decision-making and significantly contributes to the effectiveness of agriculture. Overall, due to the high importance of the knowledge application index, it is possible to use information technology and modify the structures, work processes, and stakeholder satisfaction in order to improve the performance of the wheat supply chain. Managers should make the most of the knowledge created by the organizations and use the knowledge to solve the problems of the organizations by planning. Also, if knowledge management is increased at all levels of the company, the five dimensions of reliability, responsiveness, flexibility, costs, and assets will be enhanced.